How Voice Search is Changing SEO Keywords

Go to any store where there are teenagers and young adults and nearly all of them are attached to their smartphones. Smartphones allow people to create lists, search for just about anything, and even shop from the palm of your hand. Some teenagers and young adults even struggle to function without smartphones.

Understanding this pattern allows web developers to see just how important catering to smartphone users is becoming. It is far faster to search for something by means of a smartphone than to try and type out a long search. This means the SEO keywords of yesterday may no longer be relevant in a very short period of time due to voice search.

SEO Keywords Will Sound Natural

It used to be that to search for something, the main point would be typed into a search bar. For example, to find a local coffee shop, the search would contain the words “coffee shop”. The next logical step would be to include the location, so the search became “coffee shop Chicago.”

Keywords were also used like this in web content, whether it sounded natural or not. Again, the next logical step came, and those keywords could no longer be used when they were that chopped up – they needed a more natural sound. If a website wanted to rank high, it needed to become informative and use natural keywords that included the point and the location.

Now, the next logical step has come again.

Instead of looking up a point and a location, smartphone users are asking their phones full sentences. Since they no longer have to type, they do not search for things in choppy phrases. Today, many will search for things like “where is the closest coffee shop to my office in Chicago?” instead of those old phrases. This change will need to be incorporated into modern SEO keywords if websites want to be at the top of the ranks for modern smartphone aficionados. To get those smartphone users to specific websites, changes need to be made to accommodate their content. They need to include actionable search phrases like “store hours,” “near me,” and “call now” to connect with what people look for on their mobile devices.